Although only 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported to VAERS, the system received 29,747 reports after Hib vaccines. 5179 were serious and 896 were reported deaths, with 51% of the deaths being attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

PMID: 

J Pediatr. 2015 Apr ;166(4):992-7. Epub 2015 Jan 15. PMID: 25598306

Abstract Title: 

Adverse events following Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, 1990-2013.

Abstract: 

OBJECTIVE: To characterize adverse events (AEs) after Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccines reported to the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a spontaneous reporting surveillance system.STUDY DESIGN: We searched VAERS for US reports after Hib vaccines among reports received from January 1, 1990, to December 1, 2013. We reviewed a random sample of reports and accompanying medical records for reports classified as serious. All reports of death were reviewed. Physicians assigned a primary clinical category to each reviewed report. We used empirical Bayesian data mining to identify AEs that were disproportionally reported after Hib vaccines.RESULTS: VAERS received 29,747 reports after Hib vaccines; 5179 (17%) were serious, including 896 reports of deaths. Median age was 6 months (range 0-1022 months). Sudden infant death syndrome was the stated cause of death in 384 (51%) of 749 death reports with autopsy/death certificate records. The most common nondeath serious AE categories were neurologic (80; 37%), other noninfectious (46; 22%) (comprising mainly constitutional signs and symptoms); and gastrointestinal (39; 18%) conditions. No new safety concerns were identified after clinical review of reports of AEs that exceeded the data mining statistical threshold.CONCLUSION: Review of VAERS reports did not identify any new or unexpected safety concerns for Hib vaccines.

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